Here’s is my 5-minute talk for the panel on “New Platforms, Approaches and Structures” – still subject to some change in the moment – and I expect some Q & A to follow.

Thank you Ellen Goodman, Steve Waldman, and Chairman Genachowski, for inviting me to weigh in on these issues. I am a big believer in the need for public media in the digital era, and appreciate the Commission elevating this discussion at a time of great ferment in media and journalism.

“You” = public and “Tube” = broadcasting, right? Every day thousands of videos are posted to YouTube, reaching millions of people across every conceivable interest. Anyone can create, broadcast, and distribute. It’s open, democratic, participatory, exploding with free expression.

The topic was “Public Media: from broadcast to broadband” and we managed to cover a lot of territory and start a good discussion in the 90 minutes or so we had at our disposal. Considering that there are not infrequent multi-day convenings and conferences on these issues it was quite an exercise to boil it down to some essentials.

Ellen is working with the Ford Foundation (of which PRX is a grantee) to help shape a research and policy agenda on public media, and PRX itself is in the thick of things as a player in the field effecting change through our services and projects.